Esperance
parliamentary inquiry follow-up factsheet:
Where to from Here??

By Michelle Crisp,
a member of LED - Locals for Esperance Development, 26/6/08[LID 9558}

Following the reported deaths of hundreds
of native birds within the coastal tourist town of Esperance in Western
Australian between December 2006 and March 2007, it was discovered that lead
being transported through the town’s port had caused their deaths. A
Parliamentary Inquiry into the event was instigated, and their report was
presented in September 2007. For those who haven’t the time or inclination
to read the Parliamentary Inquiry Report, here is a brief summary with some
of my thoughts.

The Report concluded that the deaths of
the 9500 native birds in December 2006 and March 2007 resulted from lead
poisoning from Magellan Metals lead carbonate concentrate which had been
handled by the Esperance Port Authority from April 2005 until March 2007. A
quarter of the children under 5 years of age that were tested showed a blood
lead level over 5 µg/dL. Whilst this is not as high as other communities
affected by lead pollution, it certainly shows an impact from lead
contamination.

“The Committee believes that the
exposure of Esperance community members to Magellan lead was a result of:

the ongoing transport to, and
inloading practices at, the Esperance Port which occurred almost every
second day over some 23 months;

the escape of lead dust during the
usual outloading practices at the Esperance Port, which occurred on 22
occasions; and

a number of key dust incidents
occurring during ship-loading of the Magellan lead concentrate at the
Esperance Port, which released significant lead pollution into the
environment, and in the absence of any containment or clean up, caused
on-going exposures to lead.”

The Report found that the Esperance
community had been let down by the actions of the Esperance Port Authority
(including the Port Authority Board), Magellan Metals and the WA Department
of Environment (DEC). The DEC has instigated legal action against the
Esperance Port Authority on various matters relating to polluting the
Esperance town site.

The inquiry have recommended extra
resources be provided to the DEC so that they can more adequately fulfil their role, and that the management, infrastructure and monitoring at the
Esperance Port be upgraded. They also have recommended that legislation be
put in place that “a port authority be required to ensure that public
health is not adversely impacted by its conduct.”

Department of Health involvement in the
approvals processes as mandatory is warmly received. If the recommendations
of the WA Department of Health from September 2005 had been implemented, the
Esperance community may have been spared a lot of heartache.

One of the findings stated “Factors
such as family circumstance and educational opportunities are potentially
far more important to a child’s cognitive ability than exposure to
lead.” Hopefully rather than taking a ‘wait and see’ approach towards
children’s development, the government will provide extra resources to the
local schools for smaller class sizes in the early primary years, or extra
teachers’ aides in the classes.

It is pleasing to note that a lot of the
recommendations will have implications, not only for Esperance, but also for
other port communities in Western Australia. In November 2007, Bunbury was
the fourth Western Australian port (apart from Esperance) to undergo an
assessment by the DEC with a particular focus on off-site emissions and the
ports’ capability to handle and store products.

Whilst not within the terms of reference,
the extent of nickel pollution within the Esperance town site was
highlighted in the report. Through the extensive testing done within the
township for lead, nickel has also been identified as a pollutant. Rainwater
tanks, dust swab results and ceiling space dust have all shown elevated
levels of nickel- a fact that wouldn’t surprise a lot of locals who have
had issues with the smell of xanthates from the nickel for years.

Locals for Esperance Development (LED)
are pushing for a guarantee of zero nickel dust emissions in the town site.
Unfortunately once the product is being handled, the processes to enable
change move very slowly. It is vitally important with new commodities to be
handled by the Port, that effective handling process and safeguards for the
community are implemented BEFORE any product is handled.

Lead and nickel dust in the Esperance
community will persist for a while yet, and residents will have to remain
vigilant in their efforts to clean their houses. Until we have definitive
data to show that there are no longer elevated levels of heavy metals within
our community, we will not be able to have our clean town back.

Thank goodness for the poor birds that
died in Dec 2006 and March 2007. If they had not died, I dread to imagine
the situation we would be in now. Hopefully, lessons will be learned from
this incident, and Esperance will be a better place to live because of it.

Thanks to Dr Nic Dunlop from the
Conservation Council of WA, the long term effects of heavy metal exposure on
the native birds in Esperance are being researched. Dr Dunlop is expected to
release his first round of results this week (28th June 2008).

In June 2008, 9 000 tonne of Magellan
Metals’ lead carbonate remains within a shed at the Esperance Port
Authority and Magellan Metals still have not resumed exporting their product
from the mine. The remaining lead in Esperance is proposed to be put in
bulka bags and loaded into a ship, the entire process being monitored 24/7
by independent auditors to ensure no further contamination of the township.

Magellan Metals have applied to export
their product from the Wiluna mine through the Port of Fremantle in bulka
bags within double sealed containers. The Fremantle City Council is opposed
to the transport of lead carbonate in this way through residential areas and
is asking that it be transported in an ingot form. Magellan Metals gave
assurances to the Esperance community as early as 2004 that they would build
a smelter in Wiluna and export most of their product as an ingot. This
promise was never fulfilled.